No liability for state in deaths of two bicyclists
BROOKLYN (AP) — The state Transportation Department won’t be liable in the deaths of two women who were struck while riding bicycles in Jackson County.
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of the state in a lawsuit by families of Deborah Patterson and Mary Massengill. They were killed in 2016 when a 76-year-old driver hit them from behind.
Patterson and Massengill were riding in a bike lane on Wamplers Lake Road, near Brooklyn. Their estates argued that the Transportation Department had created a problem by making a bike lane without widening the road.
But the appeals court agreed with a lower court judge. The court says a “certain amount of risk is inherent” near moving vehicles.
The driver was convicted of committing a moving violation causing death.
Justices won’t review award to couple that deputies shot
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is leaving in place a roughly $4 million judgment for an innocent couple shot while California deputies searched for a wanted man.
The high court this week declined to again take up the case involving Angel and Jennifer Mendez. Their case had previously been before the justices who overturned the $4 million award and ordered a lower court to revisit the case.
On second look, the appeals court again sided with the couple.
The two were shot in 2010 when deputies searching for a parolee entered a backyard shack in Lancaster, north of Los Angeles, where the couple was living. Deputies fired shots after seeing Angel Mendez pick up what looked like a gun. It was a BB gun.
Nominating law challenge denied
The U.S. Supreme Court is declining to hear the Utah Republican Party’s challenge to a state law overhauling how political parties nominate candidates.
The Monday decision halts the long court battle over the law allowing candidates to bypass GOP nominating conventions and instead gather signatures to participate in a primary.
Utah’s GOP argued the law violates their First Amendment right to choose candidates as they saw fit. But a federal appeals court disagreed, finding it balances the state’s interest in managing elections while allowing political parties and residents a way to express their choices.
Beachfront wedding day fight lands groom in jail
OCEAN RIDGE, Fla. (AP) — Police say a Florida man spent what was supposed to be his wedding night in jail after breaking the nose of a man who refused to move out of the way of beachfront wedding pictures.
Ocean Ridge police arrested 27-year-old Jeffery E. Alvord on Sunday after the fight with a 24-year-old man who refused offers of $50 to move out of the way.
Alvord told police the man became “very belligerent,” making him feel threatened. So he punched the man. The victim told police a groomsman held him so Alvord could hit him.
Alvord’s attorney told the Palm Beach Post the incident “did not play out” as the victim stated. Alvord was released on bond Monday and married his fiance.
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